National Blog

If you like your (medical) privacy, you can('t) keep it

Of all the problems with Obamacare, one of the most serious, and least discussed, is the threat the bill poses to medical privacy. Obamacare gives the IRS authority to enforce the "individual mandate." This means the IRS (yes THAT IRS) will collect medical information about millions of Americans.

If the prospect of the IRS having access to your personal data worries you, you are not alone. J. Russell George, the Inspector General for Tax Administration, recently testified at a US Senate hearing that he “remains concerned about the protection of confidential taxpayer data.”

The IRS is not the only federal agency that will see Americans' personal health information. There are 21 federal agencies involved in administering Obamacare, which means a lot of federal employees will have access to the health records of millions of Americans. In addition to its other problems, the designers of Healthcare.gov did such a poor job of ensuring the security of personal information stored on the site that some security experts suggested renaming the site Identitytheft.gov.

Of course, the only way to protect medical privacy is to repeal Obamacare and replace it with free-market health care that gives individuals complete control over their medical records. The need to protect medical privacy is one more reason why Campaign for Liberty continues to work to repeal Obamacare.